A review by linafischer
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I originally was not going to rate this, as I acknowledge that this is not my cup of tea and I am not the intended audience. However, I feel the need to acknowledge and share the flaws that ruined this for me. Firstly, the pacing on this was way off - maybe to ensure a sequel could be published? Secondly, the writing itself felt flat and uninspired: I found by self begging the author to show, not tell a single thing and the characters felt two dimensional and undeveloped throughout the entire narrative. Further, the romance that occurred was not only paced weirdly; there was also a significant age gap and power-imbalance (both through knowledge, social power and actual super powers) between the characters that made this very hard to enjoy. And the thing that ruined this otherwise just unremarkable read completely: the lack of research.  Rewriting classical myths with "girlboss" women should (if ever) be done carefully - retelling tales deeply influenced by sociopolitica of the time without any nuance is dangerous and useless to the feminist movement. Not only is Medea's story oversimplified, she is glorified without acknowledgement of her flaws (such as cutting up her brother). Briseis (who the mc is named after) is referred to as Achilles and Patroclus' "homegirl", completely omitting her role as a victim. Greek mythology figures are not your baby girls! Finally: I feel like even without much research, you should be aware that the TROJANS did not build the Trojan Horse to invent Troy...

A good editor could've done wonders for this.